Understanding Variable Definitions in Sass

In Sass, variables play a vital role as they allow developers to avoid repeating code, making stylesheets more maintainable. Variables are reusable bits that hold specific values which you can refer to throughout your stylesheet. The correct way to define a variable in Sass is to use the dollar sign $ before the variable's name, followed by a colon and then the variable's value.

In the question's case, "$primary-color: #888;" is indeed the right way to define a variable in Sass. Here, $primary-color is the name of the variable, and #888 is the value assigned to it. This means that whenever the variable $primary-color is used in the stylesheet, it would represent the color #888. Here's an example of how this might be used:

$primary-color: #888;

body {
  background: $primary-color;
}

In the above code snippet, TypeScript will compile the Sass into CSS, replacing $primary-color with the actual color code #888. The output CSS would be:

body {
  background: #888;
}

It's worth noting that the other options mentioned in the question are incorrect. Sass does not recognize @primary-color: #888; or %primary-color: #888; or #primary-color: #888; as valid Sass syntax for declaring variables.

The use of Sass variables streamlines code and enhances readability. It's considered a best practice to use variables for attributes that are reused throughout the stylesheet, such as colors, font-sizes, or margins, to name a few. This not only helps in maintaining consistency but also makes it easier to make global changes to the stylesheet. By changing the value of the variable, all instances where the variable is used get updated automatically, thereby saving time and minimizing errors.